Overview of Research: What We Know and Don’t Know About the Consequences of Science and Math Teacher Turnover

Date:2006 October
Author(s):Abigail Jurist Levy, Erica T. Fields, and Erica S Jablonski
Format:PDF, Published Article
This paper was commissioned by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF), and presented at the NCTAF Symposium on the Scope and Consequences of K-12 Science and Mathematics Teacher Turnover, October 3-5, 2006, Wingspread Conference Center, Racine, WI. The paper provides an overview of research done in the past 10 years, primarily—but not solely—in the United States, that addresses two questions: what are the consequences of science and mathematics teacher turnover with regard to (1) student achievement and (2) the number of teachers who are teaching outside their field of expertise. Although the intention was to focus on science and mathematics teachers, little research has been done to date that explores these content areas specifically. As we consider this body of research and the findings it has generated, the question of whether and to what extent we can assume that more general findings apply similarly to science and math endures.
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http://cse.edc.org/products/pdfs/NCTAFOverviewOfResearch2006.pdf